The Alameda Native History Project invites you to roll up your sleeves and be part of something historic.
This September, we are coming together to build the specialized tools and equipment that will make the Second Annual Acorn Harvest possible. Whether you are new to our work or a returning volunteer, these Build Days are a chance to contribute directly to reopening Indigenous foodways in the Bay Area.
Saturday, Sept. 6 : Prep Day (Starts at 10 a.m.)
Our first Build Day is focused on preparing equipment for final assembly. Volunteers will be drilling, cutting, sanding, gluing, painting, and shaping metal mesh.
Because of the sharp tools, spray paint, and detail work involved, this session is best for adults who feel comfortable and experienced with hands-on tasks such as drilling, cutting, or painting.
If you have your own gloves, safety goggles, or respirator, please bring them. Space is limited, so Register for Sept. 6.
Saturday, Sept. 13 : Main Build Day (10 a.m. – 1 p.m.)
This is our big community gathering. Together, we will assemble the tools we will use to harvest and store acorns during the Second Annual Acorn Harvest. It is a clean and sober event, open to all, with jobs suited for every comfort level.
Even though registration is free, you can choose to “pay what you want” to help cover equipment, rental fees, snacks, gloves, and other volunteer care. Register for Sept. 13
Why It Matters
Acorn foods sustained Indigenous people here for millennia, and harvesting them with care is both cultural practice and ecological stewardship. Our protocols are rooted in Traditional Ecological Knowledge: take only what the trees freely give, give back in return, and ensure all flourishing is mutual.
This work is more than building buckets and tenders. It is about restoring an Indigenous food system that has not operated at scale in 300 years. California law recognizes the importance of protecting Native cultural practices, and the United Nations affirms Indigenous peoples’ rights to maintain their foodways and cultural traditions. Here in Alameda, the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe has voiced support for our work to restore acorn harvesting as a tangible tribal benefit.
By joining us, you are helping to create equipment that will feed community, honor sovereignty, and keep Indigenous traditions alive.
On Sundays, August 17 and August 31, the Alameda Native History Project will host Acorn Harvest Training, a hands-on, field-based workshop rooted in Indigenous tradition and ecological stewardship.
Participants will learn to identify local oaks, distinguish between red and white oak by leaf shape, bark, and acorn characteristics, and understand the significance of mast years in acorn production. We will explore how acorns nourish entire ecosystems, not just people, and why respectful harvesting ensures that “all flourishing is mutual.”
This training is grounded in the Honorable Harvest, a principle passed through generations:
Take only what is freely given.
Never take more than you need.
Give thanks, and give back.
Our harvesting protocol reflects these values. We use low-impact wooden acorn tenders, tapping branches lightly. No climbing, pruning, or mechanical shakers. Only acorns released by gentle taps or natural fall are gathered, and our collective harvest is capped at less than 15 percent of the seasonal crop, well below ecologically safe limits. Viable acorns we do not keep are buried nearby, replenishing the seed bank and echoing the work of squirrels that help oak forests regenerate.
These sessions are not about extraction. They are about building a respectful, living relationship with the land. The work is grounded in Traditional Ecological Knowledge and supported by the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, which recognizes the importance of restoring Indigenous foodways as a living practice of cultural sovereignty and environmental stewardship.
People who signed up for the Indigenous Land Lab and the Acorn Harvest using our volunteer form received text messages with exclusive offers for free tickets. If you would like to join us on the harvest, and receive exclusive offers and special invitations such as private willow harvests and other events at the Indigenous Land Lab, sign up at https://nativehistoryproject.org/volunteer.
Space is limited for each session to ensure a meaningful and safe learning environment.
We’re reconnecting with land, deepening relationships, and bringing more people into that process. The Alameda Native History Project is expanding its reach, partnering with libraries and organizations across Alameda, Contra Costa, and Santa Clara counties to support land-based learning and reopen Indigenous foodways that have been silenced, but never lost.
If you would like to partner with us, please take a minute to read and understand the Working With Us page before reaching out.
We are excited to be working with all of our new partners around the San Francisco Bay Area. And we look forward to announcing more events as we get further in to the harvest season.
Library Partnerships That Build More Than Granaries
This month, we’re collaborating with the Alameda County Library on two public events that center Indigenous knowledge and invite families, elders, and young people into relationship with the land.
On August 9, we’ll be at Centerville Library for the Acorn Mini Festival, a family-friendly gathering that includes crafts, games, and granary building. Participants will learn about acorns and oak trees while engaging in activities that reflect generations of care and connection. Acorns are the most important food stock for California Indigenous people. They’re a gift from the oaks, and they feed the land, the animals, and us.
Then on August 27, we’ll be at San Lorenzo Library to lead a hands-on Acorn Granary Workshop, where participants will help construct a traditional storage structure. These granaries are part of a food system that sustained Indigenous people through the winter and protected what the land had given. We’ll also share about harvesting practices, oak identification, and what it means to be part of this cycle today. A follow-up acorn processing workshop will take place in the fall.
Public institutions have a responsibility to support cultural visibility. These library partnerships are an example of what it looks like when that responsibility is taken seriously.
Willow Harvests
This work is grounded in Traditional Ecological Knowledge. Every willow reed we gather, every acorn we collect, comes from a relationship. These aren’t activities designed for show. They’re teachings that carry responsibilities.
On August 7, we’ll hold an invitation-only Willow Harvest at the Indigenous Land Lab, a protected area with no cell service, no pavement, and no spectators. Everything we bring in, we carry. Everything we take, we give back for. This harvest is about learning through presence and care, not documentation.
Use the Volunteer Signup Form and check the box for “Indigenous Land Lab” to get early and exclusive invites to events like the Willow Harvest, Pine Bough Gathering, Berry Picking, or More.
On August 24, we’ll host a public Willow Harvest for people who are ready to engage with seasonal cycles and learn the protocols that come with them. These reeds will be used to build future granaries.
We’re holding an Acorn Harvest Training on August 17 in Alameda. We’ll cover identification of red and white oak species, how to read the land for timing, and how to harvest without harm. We teach what the Honorable Harvest requires: you take only what’s given. You use everything you take. You care for what feeds you. You give back.
This isn’t about reviving lost traditions. It’s about repairing relationships that were interrupted. And healing ourselves.
Reopening Indigenous foodways means returning to ways of being that are grounded in reciprocity, intention, and care. Returning to wellbeing by turning away from over-processed sugars and engineered fats that our bodies were not intended to eat, and which do not fulfill our most basic nutritional needs.
The work is Indigenously-led and Tribally-aligned. It’s built to last, shaped by those who hold cultural memory and who live in relationship with the land. It’s not a trend. It’s a commitment.
And we are inviting you to join us in these once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to take part in traditional California Indigenous activities in a respectful and appropriate way, while providing a tangible tribal benefit to the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area.
How to Get Involved
We’ve launched a new sign-up form to help grow our regional network of volunteers and supporters. If you’ve attended a past event or want to be invited to upcoming harvests, teachings, and builds, we invite you to sign up and stay connected.
Alameda Native History Project is a fiscally sponsored organization. All donations are tax deductible.
Your donation will help us reopen Indigenous foodways, and produce culturally relevant, nutritious, traditional food–at scale–for the first time in over 300 years.
Where your funds go:
Safety Equipment & Supplies We provide a safe platform to reopen Indigenous foodways
Heat Safety
First Aid
Shade Structures
Volunteer Care Essentials for Outdoor Work, honestly viewed as another part of “Safety”
Hydration (Water + Electrolytes)
Protein Bars and Energy Chews
Rest area supplies (Folding chairs, Cooling towels)
The Second Annual Acorn Harvest begins in August. This year, we will be gathering Acorns outside of the City of Alameda, into Alameda County, and beyond.
The reason for this is two-fold.
The first, almost all of the Oak trees in the City of Alameda are exclusively Coast Live Oak. These trees are in the Red Oak family.
The second, is that we have new partnerships and collaborations sprouting throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
Red Oak Family? Why does this even matter?
Red Oak Trees have a two year acorn cycle. Meaning, the acorns take two years to grow and mature. In the context of the Acorn Harvest, this means no mature acorns will be available in Alameda until 2026–two years from our first harvest in 2024.
Oh… So which Oak Trees are going to have acorns, then?
This is actually great as far as the harvest goes. Because we’ll be hunting some of the most tasty acorns available. White Oak Acorns have relatively low tannic content compared to the Coast Live Oak acorns we had in abundance last year.
If you attended any of our Acorn Processing Workshops, Acorn Flour Production Days, or any of our Acorns! Culinary Series events, then you had the opportunity to taste these acorns in their various states of processing.
As an aside: One of our long-term goal is to produce blends of acorn flour for both taste and function. So being able to introduce you to these different varieties of Acorns, to harvest, taste, and cook with, is big plus in and of itself.
How do you find these White Oak trees?
We’re using a mix of GIS Analysis and In-Person Verification. Using Open Source Data we found through the California Oaks website, we were able to access several raster layers of relevant data, and then convert them into vector form we could overlay onto our own custom made maps to accurately target areas were would could find the oak trees we need.
Our next step was to find, identify, and surveil these trees in our area of interest; and to keep a running log of acorn ripeness to help time acorn harvest dates that we (hopefully) can communicate to our dedicate harvest volunteers with advance notice.
That’s all great; but how can I help?
We’re so glad you asked!
We want to find property owners/land managers who have oak trees that currently have ripening acorns.
We can describe this to you more in depth, but tl;dr the acorns need to be big, and not tiny little buds.
We want to find people who are willing to surveil the acorns in their area.
We need to start building teams, and training people to harvest acorns.
We’re looking for donations of LARGE BACKPACKS, HUGE RUCKSACKS, BACKPACKING BAGS, etc.
We’re also looking to raise the funds to properly hydrate and ensure the safety of our Harvest Teams.
Acorns are the single most important food stock in California.
They are enjoyed by First Californians from coast to coast. And it was traded throughout the state and beyond. We all share this heritage, even though we have different stories, songs, and journeys.
While the First Californians are famous for eating acorns; we are not the only people in the world who gather and process acorns for food.
As we develop the equipment necessary to process the acorns we harvested during our First Annual Acorn Harvest en masse, we wanted to tell you more about the global significance of acorns.
The Global Significance of Acorns
Acorns are eaten in North America, Europe, and Asia. China is a major manufacturer of acorn harvesting and processing equipment. Their largest customer is Korea. Where acorns are a major food stock, so common that acorns are part of the pop culture.
Anecdotally: The dude at a gas station near our office gave me his mother’s recipe for Berber Acorn Bread, when I told him what I was working on. He shared with me that acorn bread was something he ate as a child, and shared his fond memories of gathering and processing acorns.
When I brought him an acorn from a Coast Live Oak, he was so used to the sweet acorns of his homeland that he immediately opened the acorn to eat it–not realizing that this acorn is high in tannin and very bitter. But it was his experience that influenced his belief that all acorns were ready to eat, because they are in the place he’s from.
This is all to say that acorns are global. And they are something which can tie us together when we need it most.
Foodways are intersected by the acorn, not the other way around.
This is why we all have an innate fascination with acorns. Because we all share an ancestral urge to eat them!
For our purposes, we’re going to be processing acorns en masse, in an effort to produce food for as many people as possible.
Yes, it’s true that some of the most traditional ways to process acorns include soaking acorns in flowing water.
Most processing methods use water directly from rivers, streams, and springs.
So, we couldn’t show you how to do it traditionally, even if we wanted to. Because it’s not safe.
Anyone who tells you different is probably gonna pull out a glass jar, or some coffee filters to process acorns in their kitchen, anyway–and that’s not “traditional”, either.
So let’s just lay this one to rest and make peace with the fact that the world has changed [is continuing to change] and it behooves us to adapt accordingly.
None of this makes the acorn less special, or our mission less important.
It means that we can share our enthusiasm and celebrate the reopening of indigenous foodways with more people!
And there’s nothing better than sharing something with people who appreciate it as much as you do.
Modern Acorn Processing Techniques are Well-Documented
These are the kinds of Acorn Processing methods we will show you during our Public Acorn Processing Workshops:
Modern, relevant, acorn processing techniques you can enjoy in your own kitchen, with readily available tools and supplies.
While those are good for small amounts. We’re going to be processing much larger quantities.
We are offering two types of Acorn Processing Events.
The first one (listed above) is our public workshop. We are also running productionworkshops.
Production workshops will be focused on producing the Acorn Flour and Acorn Meal we’ll actually offer and distribute to Indigenous Communities, and the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Learn more about how we will accomplish this task by volunteering to help us process the acorns we’ve harvested.
We’re excited to invite prospective volunteers, land owners, land stewards, and community members to join our upcoming meeting discussing the 2025 Acorn Harvest!
Share Your Insights, Shape Our Success
Meeting Details:
Date: January 5th, 2025
Time: 10:00am – 11:30am
Platform: Google Meet
Together, let’s:
Recap the accomplishments of the First Annual Acorn Harvest
Explore specific goals and thoughtful improvements for the 2025 Acorn Harvest – building on our strengths!
Outline our timeline, materials needs, and budget considerations
Discuss strategies for accessing vital resources and connections to local organizations
Your Network Matters!
Do you have personal or professional connections to local organizations that could support our mission? Share your links with us!
Next Steps
Attend our meeting and contribute your ideas
Volunteer to help establish connections with local organizations
Mark your calendars for our follow-up meeting in two weeks (Jan 19) – same time!
A series of events in the community. We invite community members to come together and challenge themselves to create an Acorn Granary, a traditional Native American Storage device to hold acorns throughout the year—but, specifically, built for the purpose of holding acorns over winter, because the Acorn Harvest is in the fall.
Through gathering natural materials and processing them into the supplies we use to build the granaries, participants will gain first-hand knowledge and experience of the importance of access to natural materials and the challenges of preparing for winter. Community members will discover that survival cannot be done alone and that the challenge of the Acorn Granary is not one person against nature. It is about how communities come together and build natural, regenerative systems to adapt and evolve with the landscape in a respectful and sustainable way.
When we came together in July, we came as a small group of individuals taking part in the first-ever Granary Challenge. Our participants ranged from 2nd and 3rd graders, college undergraduates, parents, and grandparents, from diverse social, cultural, and economic backgrounds. And we want you to know, that the framework of our granary was built by our youngest participants—and we are amazed, grateful, and humbled by their instinctive expertise and boundless enthusiasm.
About the Granary
Our Acorn Granary is hosted in the community by the Alameda Point Collaborative Farm2Market. Our granary was built using willow reeds and bay leaves donated from the Land Partners in Castro Valley, pine boughs and poles gathered locally, twine from local hardware stores, and the granary is topped with marine canvas donated from Pacific Crest Canvas.
The Annual Acorn Harvest
The Harvest runs from September through November. The efforts of this community-led initiative are aimed at reopening indigenous foodways. Acorns have not been gathered for food in Alameda, and much of the Bay Area, for over 300 years. Part of decolonizing ourselves, our stomachs, and the places we live, relies on reconnecting with the natural world around us and partaking in the ancient practices of this land.
By practicing sustainable, regenerative agriculture, we are becoming good stewards of our natural world, making space, and opening the pathways to food sovereignty, healing, and wellness for ourselves, and for more than 25,000 Native American/Alaskan Native and Indigenous People currently living in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Even though this was the first-ever Acorn Harvest announced in the City of Alameda in recent history—with a limited budget, and not a lot of marketing involved—we were tremendously grateful and surprised by the wellspring of support from our friends and neighbors in Alameda, and from our followers on social media.
The people who volunteered with us for the Annual Acorn Harvest ranged in age from young to old and represented a large contingent from many different social, cultural, and economic backgrounds. The Acorn Harvest was truly a family event, and we were honored to create these bonds and reconnect, together, with the natural urban forest, animals, and environment we depend on, but often overlook.
Through our community-building and sustainable practices, we helped to divert edible food from waste bins and compost piles. The acorns we did not use for food, we shared with 100K Trees For Humanity, which will germinate and plant new Oak trees in an effort “to increase our urban forest canopies, restore natural habitats, increase urban carbon sequestration capacity to help cities meet carbon reduction goals and for greater equity for cooler healthier communities.”
Acorn Processing & ACORNS! Culinary Series
The acorns we harvested are now being stored over winter in safe locations around the island. In the spring, we will begin processing our harvested acorns to produce Acorn Flour, and Acorn Meal, which we will offer to local Indigenous communities, the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area, and will also be used for our ACORNS! Culinary Series—featuring Traditional and Contemporary Indigenous, and International Cuisine. Our culinary series is generously hosted by the Alameda Park and Recreation Department, at the Mastick Senior Center, and will take place every Sunday in April 2025.
Find out more!
For more information on how to attend the ACORNS! Culinary Series, volunteer for the 2025 Annual Acorn Harvest, or process acorns to create nutritious culturally significant food for our Local Indigenous Communities
Alameda Native History Project is proud to partner with our awesome and enthusiastic and diverse community for Alameda’s First Annual Acorn Harvest!
Acorn season is upon us!
The streets are filled with the sounds of foraging. The crunching and munching of squirrels chewing on acorns forms a surprisingly backtrack on a slow weekend morning.
This is Alameda’s present-day urban forest.
You may have never noticed it before. But Alameda is full of oak trees. It’s during acorn season that we’re reminded la bolsa de Encinal is still here.
Acorns have not been readily available as a food source for over 100 years.
The Alameda Native History Project seeks to reopen the local indigenous foodways of Alameda and the East Bay.
They will stay in the granary over winter. And we will process the acorns in spring.
Some of the Acorn Flour and Acorn Meal which we will produce will be used as the featured ingredient of our culinary series. Some will be offered to local Native American Organizations and Tribes. A limited amount Acorn Flour and Acorn Meal will be offered to the public for fundraising.
Harvest teams are forming now. You’re invited!
We’re excited to share this opportunity with you to be a part of our Acorn Harvest Team. Whether you’re looking for a fun outdoor activity, a chance to connect with nature, or a way to help revitalize a food pathway which hasn’t been readily available for over 100 years, we welcome you to join our team!
Here’s what we’re doing:
Sorting Acorns: Help us sort acorns by size and quality.
Harvesting Acorns: Collect acorns that have fallen from trees.
Scooping and Bagging Acorns: Help us scoop and bag acorns for storage.
Packing Acorn Granaries: Assist us in packing acorns into granaries for long-term storage.
We welcome volunteers of all abilities and will work to accommodate your needs. Whether you prefer to work from a seated position or are able to assist with physical tasks, we have opportunities for everyone to contribute.
Join us for a fun and rewarding experience that will connect you with your community and the natural world. Let us know which tasks you’re available for and any accommodations you may need.
Support the First Annual Acorn Harvest by donating to the Alameda Native History Project.
By supporting this project, you are helping to revive a forgotten food source and reconnect with the rich cultural heritage of our region. Together, we can reclaim the acorn as a symbol of community, sustainability, and cultural resilience. Join us in this effort to rebuild our local indigenous foodways and create a more equitable and sustainable food system for all.
Your contribution will directly support our acorn harvest and processing efforts, as well as our culinary series and partnerships with local Native American organizations, community organizations, and tribes. We are grateful for your trust in our work and your commitment to our community.
Acorn Granaries are traditional Native American storage containers used to hold foods like dried berries, rice, squash, and tree nuts…. (In this case: acorns from the city-wide acorn harvest happening this fall.) …And keep them safe from animals and the environment over winter.
What is the purpose of an Acorn Granary?
To store food that people needed to survive during the coldest parts of winter, when no plants grow, and all of the animals are hibernating, or have migrated to warmed areas.
Why are Acorn Granaries important?
Acorns were one of the single most important food sources in California [Heizer 1957]. Over winter, the bounties of California’s many edible plants, and the abundance of wildlife normally acquired through hunting, trapping, or fishing, is replaced with a barren landscape.
This is why it’s so important to gather as much food as possible; and to protect it from water, wind, rain, and the animals–who also depend on caches to survive through the winter.
How widespread is the use of Acorn Granaries?
It cannot be overstated: Acorns were one of the single most important food sources in California [Heizer 1957]. Most families had an acorn granary [Gifford 1932; Fremont 1843]. Granaries were meant to hold acorns as they dried over winter, however, granaries would be kept and maintained for many years.
How many acorns does an Acorn Granary hold?
Some granaries would hold just enough acorns to support a family until the next harvest. Other granaries could hold “ten to twenty sacks of acorns” [Gifford 1932]. Although, there’s no specific weight or volume measurement for how much a “sack” is. Heizer (in 1957), noted that Patwin communities had granaries with a capacity of about 6 to 10 bushels of acorns.
Several studies included dimensions of varying types of granaries made by different California Native Tribes:
On average, the granaries were about 3-4 feet in diameter, up to 10 feet high, and at least 2 feet off the ground.
How many acorns were harvested during the Acorn Harvest?
The only limit to how many acorns could be harvested was dependent upon the method of collection, and how many people were involved in the harvest.
The Acorn Harvest happens once a year, when there is a nearly limitless supply of acorns adorning the more-than 87 million oak trees which are endemic to California. [Oaks 2040]
Competition for Acorns
Over 100 different kinds of animals eat acorns, including (but not limited to):
Bear
Chipmunk
Crows
Deer
Ducks
Foxes
Jack Rabbit
Jays
Mallards
Mice
Oppossums
Quail
Raccoons
Squirrel
Turkeys
Voles
Wild Hogs
Woodpeckers
Every single one of these animals would gladly take a pre-foraged “snack pack” [that’s what a bear would call it] in a season when no other food is available.
This is why it is necessary to create: (a) a sturdy food container that (b) hides the scent of food, and (c) deters animals from eating through the container into the actual food inside.
What are the different types of Acorn Granaries?
Below is a list granary types–but the names aren’t official. There are no standardized names for granaries because over 300 unique languages were spoken in California.
Coil-type – Acorns chill under a coil basket made from cordage. (Usually on a platform.)
Hanging basket – Hung from sturdy tree-limbs, or from a frame made from lashed wood.
Tree platform – Resting on platform build in the crook of a tree.
Free-standing – Made with sturdy legs to resist wind, and other forces.
Rock-butt – Granary resting on a rock. Sometimes stabilized by legs, or tied to frame/tree limb, or all of the above.
Construction Materials
Willow reeds & poles, and California Bay boughs, were gathered from the Indigenous Land Lab
After learning about the history, usage, and types of Acorn Granaries, we began granary construction over four sessions in July 2024.
Rolling the frame onto the hoops.
Completed granary frame.
Loosely woven base of the granary. (Take note the base is larger than the frame.)
Granary frame stuffed with bay leaves, sitting on base base, on top of tree rounds (with willow shims, lol.)
Shoring up the granary, using willow poles to stabilize with tension & compression. (MIT undergraduate remix.)
Granary Status: Ready for Acorns
Special Thanks & Acknowledgments
A huge shoutout, and special thanks goes out to the APC Farm2Market, for hosting our event, and the acorn granary.
Another huge shoutout goes to the Land Partners, who are hosting the Indigenous Land Lab, another Acorn Granary, and have graciously allowed us to harvest all of the willow and California Bay we used (and will use) for Acorn Granary Construction.
Special thanks goes out to everyone who participated in the Acorn Granary Challenge: Sandra, Liz, The Li & Pan Families, Natalie, Skipper.
We also want to acknowledge the Alameda County Arts Commission’s ARTSFUND for their part in funding this awesome, and ongoing, experience.
Acorn Granaries are traditional California Native food storage systems.
Granaries were made all over California. – The acorn was one of the single most important food items in California.
“Hanging Basket” stores acorns off the ground. – Some tribes built platforms to perch granaries atop of. But not all granaries were suspended.
Material defines shape. – Some granaries are made with twisted stems, blades, and vines to form a Coil Basket (or “Birdnest” design. ) Others are made with small bushells of wild grass and thatched into an “Inverted Basket” (or, Thatched-Cone Design.)
Holds acorns overwinter. – An Acorn Granary must be resilient enough to hold Acorns over the winter. Repaired and reused over many seasons.
Basket-in-shell design. – Every granary is created with an outer shell made from strong, natural material resistant to animals and insects.
Hands-On Learning Experience and Cultural Exchange
Learn about the different plants used to make Acorn Granaries; and how pests were managed before GMO and RoundUp.
Learn how to split willow to make reeds, experiment with creating the different kinds of Acorn Granaries. Strategize how to keep out squirrels, crows, and other hungry critters!
Each week will have a different focus, as we move through the steps of Acorn Granary Construction, and preparing for the harvest.
From splitting willow to making various cordage, and thatching wild grass: We will work with a mix of materials old and new. And also address the non-native plant and their uses in construction and pest management.
Most of the material gathering will take place at the Indigenous Land Lab, and the processing of cordage, thatching of wild grasses, and splitting willows will happen in town, during the Granary Construction.
This is meant to be a very mellow and open-ended process that frankly invites a little bit of creativity, and welcomes a contemporary breath of fresh air.
And we’re also open to this process taking longer than a month.
Here’s a ballpark timeframe for construction and harvest preparation.
June-July: Gather Materials and Build Acorn Granaries
August-September: Continue to prepare for Harvest, Monitor Oak Trees
The main goal here is to be totally ready by the time the acorns start to fall!
This is why we’re creating the granaries now: So we can harvest, sort, and pack our acorns into these granaries as efficiently as possible.
But, we also want to give ourselves the greatest chance of success by using multiple granaries of varying construction materials and methods. This will also give us some data to analyze and use to plan for next year!
